JUST A COLLECTION OF ANTIQUES AND CURIOS

I am astounded that no one before me that has written a review could give this a 5-star rating. Oh by god I love this album, the moods and emotions portrayed on here are just...speachless. Again we get to experience a full album of Tony and Dave harmonizing in sheer perfection, my favorite duo of voices, and we even get RICK WAKEMAN on keyboards and piano!! Incredible! And by all means does the music hold up...every track on here is just a feast of joy in listening, I cannot get enough of it, a pure CLASSIC album. "Martin Luther King's Dream" is something I think MLK jr. himself would have been brought to tears hearing, a complete masterpiece of portrayal and music. Need I mention "The Antique Suite"!? This song is a prog giant, with various changes of mood and melody, and a surrounding sound that just engulfs you fully. "Temperament of Mind" is a wonderful Wakeman track, can't go wrong with his piano work, astounding. Then we come to "Fingertips", possibly my favorite and a favorite among my peers. What. An. Unbeliveable. Song. This song could be some married couples wedding song, an underrated masterpiece of the love song genre. It saddens me that this is not brought to many ears, but this track should be heard my music fans and poetry fans alike, it is a work of art not just a "song". The next few tracks are good, perhaps not up to par with the others, but fine peices and performed flawlessly on this live album I might add. This version of "The Vision of the Lade of the Lake" is perhaps the best you can find, with Dave Cousins on full intensity and passion, a genius.

And I start a new line for these next two songs because they are incredible beyond words. Tony Hooper TEARS through with the opening lines to "We'll Meet Again Sometime" with his marvelous voice and such pure passion it can make me cry. This track is a classic, and seeing this performed at BB Kings in New York in 2007, over 30 years later, it is still just as great and a perfect closer to a concert. This song is more than just a song, it is a way of life for a Strawbs fan! One of their biggest and most important tracks! The last track, being a studio recording, "Forever" is another one of those tracks you just have to wonder..."How does NO ONE know about this song!?!?"...a timeless classic love song of pure beauty, in the same vein as Fingertips. Wonderful lyrics and just so powerful, Dave is in the zone and portrays a vision so profound, again, we are consumed by it.

This album is a must for Strawbs fans and is a total classic for me. A few tracks may not be up to par with the other big ones, but just to have one or two of these songs on recording would have been enough to make me happy.

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